Jericho Xavier Setubal Cruz (born October 11, 1990) is a Filipino-Guamanian professional basketball player for the

San Miguel Beermen The San Miguel Beermen are a professional basketball team in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). It is one of three PBA clubs owned by the San Miguel Corporation group of companies along with the Magnolia Hotshots and Barangay Ginebra ...

of the

Philippine Basketball Association The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) is a men's professional basketball league in the Philippines composed of twelve company-branded franchised teams. Founded in 1975, it is the first professional basketball league in Asia and is the se ...

(PBA).

High school and college career

Cruz started his basketball career in

Saipan Saipan ( ch, Sa’ipan, cal, Seipél, formerly in es, Saipán, and in ja, 彩帆島, Saipan-tō) is the largest island of the Northern Mariana Islands, a Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), commonwealth of the United States in the western Pa ...

where he helped the CNMI national basketball team in a sixth-place finish. In 2008, he also helped CNMI

FIBA Oceania Youth Tournament FIBA Oceania Youth Tournament is a basketball tournament that debuted in 1997 and then took place every two years between 1998 and 2010. It featured under-20 national teams with the Oceania region. Summaries Participating nations See also ...

to a sixth-place finish and in the process, was voted as one of the tournament's Top 5 players. He then decided to try his luck in the Philippines where he initially played for

Rizal Technological University Rizal Technological University (RTU) is a state university located at Mandaluyong, Philippines. It was established on July 11, 1969, as the College of Rizal, part of the University of Rizal System before it became autonomous in 1975. The state u ...

in 2010, the same year when the Blue Thunder ruled the

State Colleges and Universities Athletic Association The State Colleges and Universities Athletic Association (SCUAA) is an association of 93 institutions, conferences, organizations, and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of different state colleges and universities in the Philippin ...

. He was also a member of RTU’s two-time runner up squad in the

National Capital Region Athletic Association The National Capital Region Athletic Association (NCRAA) is an athletic association in Metro Manila (National Capital Region), Philippines established in 1993. It is primarily held during the second semester of a school around November until Febru ...

where the Blue Thunder lost to

Olivarez College The Olivarez College ( Filipino: ''Dalubhasaang Olivarez'', also known as simply Olivarez or OC) is a private, nonsectarian college along Dr. A. Santos Avenue, Parañaque, Philippines that offers academic programs in the basic education, junior ...

and Colegio de Sta. Monica in 2010 and 2011. He was a member of the Mythical Team in 2011. He was spotted by then Adamson Soaring Falcons coach

Leo Austria Leovino R. Austria (born March 14, 1958), better known as Leo Austria, is a Filipino former professional basketball player and the current head coach of the San Miguel Beermen in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). Playing career Aust ...

while playing in a tournament in

Bacolod Bacolod, officially the City of Bacolod (; hil, Dakbanwa/Syudad sang Bacolod; fil, Lungsod ng Bacolod), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the region of Western Visayas, Philippines. It is the capital of the province of Negros Occidenta ...

. He averaged 10.1 points per game in his first tour of duty with the

Falcons Falcons () are birds of prey in the genus ''Falco'', which includes about 40 species. Falcons are widely distributed on all continents of the world except Antarctica, though closely related raptors did occur there in the Eocene. Adult falcons ...

in the 2011 FilOil Flying V Preseason tournament then averaged 12.3 markers per outing in his rookie year with Adamson in the 2012 UAAP season. He elected to forgo his final year with the Falcons and applied for the

2014 PBA draft The Gatorade 2014 Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Rookie Draft was an event which allowed teams to draft players from the amateur ranks. The event was held at Midtown Atrium, Robinsons Place Manila on August 24, 2014. Draft lottery The ...

Professional career

Cruz was drafted 9th overall by Rain or Shine in the

. On December 5, 2014, he registered his first breakout game against

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

, finishing 16 points on 6-for-7 shooting. Two days later, he suffered a broken foot during their game against Ginebra and was out for the rest of the All-Filipino conference. He has since returned to active play in the 2015 Commissioner's Cup. He was recognized during the 2016 PBA Leo Awards as he bagged the Most Improved Player trophy. On February 15, 2018, he was traded to

TNT KaTropa The TNT (cellular service), TNT Tropang Giga is a professional basketball team currently owned by Smart Communications, a subsidiary of the PLDT, Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT), playing in the Philippine Basketball Associat ...

in exchange for rookie

Sidney Onwubere Sidney Nelson Onwubere (born August 1, 1993) is a Filipino-Nigerian basketball player for the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). He is a former star player for the EAC Generals. He was selected by the Pho ...

Kris Rosales Krismoir Sajise Rosales (born December 20, 1990) is a Filipino-American professional basketball player for the NLEX Road Warriors of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). He was drafted 19th overall in the 2015 PBA draft by the Barako B ...

, and 2018 first round pick. On June 10, 2019, Cruz was traded to the

NLEX Road Warriors The NLEX Road Warriors is a professional basketball team owned by NLEX Corporation, a subsidiary of Metro Pacific Investments Corporation, currently playing in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) since the 2014–2015 season. The Roa ...

in a three-team trade involving NLEX,

TNT Trinitrotoluene (), more commonly known as TNT, more specifically 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, and by its preferred IUPAC name 2-methyl-1,3,5-trinitrobenzene, is a chemical compound with the formula C6H2(NO2)3CH3. TNT is occasionally used as a reagen ...

, and

NorthPort Batang Pier The NorthPort Batang Pier is a Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) team that first played in the 2012–13 PBA season. The team took over the franchise of the Powerade Tigers in 2012 after it was sold to Sultan 900 Capital, Inc. Besides Nor ...

. On December 31, 2021, he became an unrestricted free agent, but he eventually re-signed a two-month deal with NLEX on January 20, 2022. On March 1, 2022, he became an unrestricted free agent again after not re-signing with NLEX. He immediately signed a three-year contract with the

on the same day. Four months thereafter Cruz set his career-high 30 points in SMB's tough win over TNT.

PBA career statistics

''As of the end of 2020 season''

Season-by-season averages

, - , align=left , , align=left , Rain or Shine , 40 , , 17.0 , , .421 , , .237 , , .861 , , 2.4 , , 1.4 , , .7 , , .0 , , 6.6 , - , align=left , , align=left , Rain or Shine , 53 , , 24.4 , , .483 , , .367 , , .748 , , 3.2 , , 2.1 , , .8 , , .1 , , 12.5 , - , align=left , , align=left , Rain or Shine , 38 , , 23.8 , , .396 , , .306 , , .735 , , 4.5 , , 2.4 , , 1.0 , , .1 , , 9.8 , - , align=left rowspan=2, , align=left , Rain or Shine , rowspan=2, 27 , , rowspan=2, 20.7 , , rowspan=2, .415 , , rowspan=2, .355 , , rowspan=2, .710 , , rowspan=2, 2.9 , , rowspan=2, 2.8 , , rowspan=2, 1.3 , , rowspan=2, .1 , , rowspan=2, 8.0 , - , align=left ,

, - , align=left rowspan=2, , align=left ,

, rowspan=2, 25 , , rowspan=2, 23.3 , , rowspan=2, .372 , , rowspan=2, .270 , , rowspan=2, .719 , , rowspan=2, 3.8 , , rowspan=2, 3.4 , , rowspan=2, .9 , , rowspan=2, – , , rowspan=2, 9.4 , - , align=left ,

NLEX The North Luzon Expressway (NLEX), signed as E1 of the Philippine expressway network, partially as N160 of the Philippine highway network, and R-8 of the Metro Manila arterial road network, is a limited-access toll expressway that connects M ...

, - , align=left , , align=left ,

, 10 , , 25.9 , , .516 , , .383 , , .696 , , 2.5 , , 3.8 , , 1.3 , , .2 , , 13.2 , - , align=left rowspan=2, , align=left ,

, rowspan=2, 26 , , rowspan=2, 24.6 , , rowspan=2, .432 , , rowspan=2, .256 , , rowspan=2, .698 , , rowspan=2, 3.3 , , rowspan=2, 3.0 , , rowspan=2, 1.3 , , rowspan=2, .1 , , rowspan=2, 9.5 , - , align=left , San Miguel , - , -class=sortbottom , align=center colspan=2 , Career , 219 , , 22.4 , , .433 , , .314 , , .752 , , 3.3 , , 2.4 , , 1.0 , , .1 , , 9.7

National team career

Cruz was a part of the Philippines team that won the gold medal at the 2013 Southeast Asian Games basketball tournament in

Naypyidaw Naypyidaw, officially spelled Nay Pyi Taw (; ), is the capital and third-largest city of Myanmar. The city is located at the centre of the Naypyidaw Union Territory. It is unusual among Myanmar's cities, as it is an entirely planned city outs ...

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

. He has also represented the

Northern Mariana Islands The Northern Mariana Islands, officially the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI; ch, Sankattan Siha Na Islas Mariånas; cal, Commonwealth Téél Falúw kka Efáng llól Marianas), is an unincorporated territory and commonw ...

at the youth level, playing in the 2008

leading CNMI to a sixth-place finish and in the process, was voted as one of the tournament's Top 5 players, and in the

2010 Micronesian Games The 7th Micronesian Games was held August 1–10 in Palau. Initially, the 7th Games were to be hosted in Majuro, Marshall Islands; however, in April 2008, the organisers announced that the Games could be "scaled down", with a number events cancell ...

. In January 2020, Cruz received a call-up to play for

Guam Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...

at the 2022 FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cruz, Jericho 1990 births Living people Adamson Soaring Falcons basketball players Basketball players from Metro Manila Competitors at the 2013 Southeast Asian Games Guamanian men's basketball players Filipino men's basketball players NLEX Road Warriors players Northern Mariana Islands sportsmen People from Pasig Philippine Basketball Association All-Stars Philippines men's national basketball team players Rain or Shine Elasto Painters draft picks Rain or Shine Elasto Painters players Rizal Technological University alumni San Miguel Beermen players Shooting guards Southeast Asian Games gold medalists for the Philippines Southeast Asian Games medalists in basketball TNT Tropang Giga players